Infinity 2000A Hybrid Electrostatics

[hjames]

Okay, its a muggy, rainy morning, so Emma helped me bring them in and I hooked them up to the Carver TFM-25 amp and fed them from iTunes ...
I handed Emma her iPad (remote) and let her choose music - her tastes run more to pop but pretty sure her ears are (younger) and better than mine.

Marty Stuart (Way Out West), lots of Mark Knopfler, Spandau Ballet, Funkadelic, Herb Alpert (Rise), Earth Wind & Fire, and finished with Aja ...
I played Trio (Parton, Harris, Ronstadt), Kinks, Dominic Miller/Botti, Daft Punk, and KLF.
Her prognosis is they are impressive - but they do get a bit bogged down with very complex music with a lot of instrument & vocals going.
Bass is amazing - unexpected, even tho specs say 30-30kHz (when new, in 1971!) The tweeter area is open to the rear - so its back and front firing
My feelings - amazement - all in all, they are really impressive for 50 y.o. speakers!
(I really should recap them) ... Heck of a deal for free!

[DerekTheGreat]

Those are indeed some strange looking speakers, right up my alley. I am skeptical of the bass response as well, I'd imagine based on the literature they're down just 4dB at 30hz? I find that a little hard to believe given that my L150A's weren't flat down to 20hz as advertised (rolled off quickly after 34hz) and that the XPL200's I've got are rated -6dB at 35hz.. No idea what my current system does with it's enormous 18's and large cabinets, but even those require the BX63 type crossover which gives a +6dB bump at something like 29 hz, hence my skepticism.

Anyway, have you or anyone else ever listened to a set of Infinity Column II's? Years ago there was a set for sale locally that I wish I pulled the trigger on. Nice looking cabinets with glass tops. They also sported a 10" doped woofer in it's own enclosure. Everyone who reviewed them online said the bass response was impressive. The weird piezo tweeter and play-doh on the woofers kept me at bay while the L150A's I saw for sale got my bread instead. Now that those are gone, I wonder how things would've been had I went with the Infinities...

[hjames]

We actually played a lot of various music yesterday and I was amazed at the punch and bottom these things presented. Daft Punk, Boz scaggs Dig, Earth Wind and Fire, even the newer Marty Stuart stuff - played with a tight bottom end. Maybe its due to the huge amount of polyfill those cabinets were tightly stuffed with - I know that changes the apparent size of the cabinets. Maybe its the factory clay woofer "Mass rings" we joked about.
Sure - its not the same Bass as those UREI Monsters you recently bought from Jim, but amazing none-the-less. More than I expected!
I was more sceptical of the 30kHz claimed high end ... but still cool for 1971 speakers!
Yes, I'd love to have a listen to other Infinity speakers - sounds like Arnie Nudell (RIP) and his team was on to something back then ...

Various web pages say that Infinity began making speakers since 1968, when Infinity belonged to Arnie Nudell, John Ulrick and Cary Christie.
They made what can be considered the first pair of High End Speakers in the world, when they introduced the EMIT (electromagnetic induction tweeter) and the EMIM (electromagnetic induction midrange) drivers, flat quasi-ribbons that worked to move air based on the principle of electromagnetic induction.
Of course, since 1983, Infinity has been part of Harman International Industries (which, in 2017, became a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics). Not the same kind of magic.

Those are indeed some strange looking speakers, right up my alley. I am skeptical of the bass response as well, I'd imagine based on the literature they're down just 4dB at 30hz? I find that a little hard to believe given that my L150A's weren't flat down to 20hz as advertised (rolled off quickly after 34hz) and that the XPL200's I've got are rated -6dB at 35hz.. No idea what my current system does with it's enormous 18's and large cabinets, but even those require the BX63 type crossover which gives a +6dB bump at something like 29 hz, hence my skepticism.

Anyway, have you or anyone else ever listened to a set of Infinity Column II's? Years ago there was a set for sale locally that I wish I pulled the trigger on. Nice looking cabinets with glass tops. They also sported a 10" doped woofer in it's own enclosure. Everyone who reviewed them online said the bass response was impressive. The weird piezo tweeter and play-doh on the woofers kept me at bay while the L150A's I saw for sale got my bread instead. Now that those are gone, I wonder how things would've been had I went with the Infinities...

[DerekTheGreat]

UREI monsters, LoL. They've definitely changed how I look at speakers, thats for sure. I know what you mean though! When my Carver TFM-55x began to make chocolate pudding in it's pants the first time, I took it off main duty and hooked up some JBL LX44's to it. I was impressed with how much punch those little guys had, was not expecting that level of performance from an 8" woofer in the middle of the room. They never relented either, but I was afraid of the Carver sharding itself at those kind of levels as it was already constipated and so I backed off.

I've never heard electrostatics, I'm intrigued. I've heard people describe their sound as, "Swimming in music." I've also never forgotten about the Column II. Something about vintage gear appeals to me, is there a cure?

[hjames]

The cure for vintage gear is to collect more, but I don't know of any 12 step groups that can help.
I've owned 3 sets of magnepans over the years. A pair of MGIIc, a pair of 6 panel Tympany Ds, and a pair of MGIIbs. The Tympanies were huge in our little house, and panels started failing the morning after I got them home, The MGII speakers played well as long as we had them, (but you always knew they could fail at any time - repairable, with a lot of tedious work).
And with a M&K Volkswoofer filling in the low bass as needed. Maggies are best when in the room, not up against a wall.
Of course, sound on maggies comes from the front and the back - which is pretty amazing as you walk between them to go past them.
My wife Emma also said the Maggies were like "swimming in the music." The Electrostatic panels in the Infinities are open in the front and the rear,
so you get quite a bit of that 3 dimensional sound, (kinda spooky listening behind the speakers). My Von Schweikert VR-4s have a rear facing driver -
they do a bit of that 3D sound too.
A pity the rear of the Infinity 2000a speakers is just a view of ugly MDF, the teak room dividers hide most of that ugly 'face".
Maybe I'll paint the backs black, like the Heaths below.

And - I really liked the "UREI Monsters" - they are amazing and I considered buying them at one point, but they were a bit heavy for me to manage in our small home.

UREI monsters, LoL. They've definitely changed how I look at speakers, thats for sure. I know what you mean though! When my Carver TFM-55x began to make chocolate pudding in it's pants the first time, I took it off main duty and hooked up some JBL LX44's to it. I was impressed with how much punch those little guys had, was not expecting that level of performance from an 8" woofer in the middle of the room. They never relented either, but I was afraid of the Carver sharding itself at those kind of levels as it was already constipated and so I backed off.

I've never heard electrostatics, I'm intrigued. I've heard people describe their sound as, "Swimming in music." I've also never forgotten about the Column II. Something about vintage gear appeals to me, is there a cure?

[DerekTheGreat]

More stuff seems to keep that itch at bay, that's for sure. I really like trying stuff, keeping what's great or just passing it along if not for me. I think the big thing that keeps me from trying new gear is that big depreciation hit that follows the initial purchase. With the old stuff I've been buying, short of catastrophic failures/repairs being greater than expected, everything has been lateral for me. If I lose money, it's not all that much considering how long I had the piece or what it was worth to me personally to cross it off my list. Some of it has even taken me by surprise. Like my dead Carver TFM-55x, I sold that thing for just about what I paid for it in fully functional condition.

The panels on the Tympanies, were those also repairable with lots of work? The few Magnepan speakers I looked into sported pretty low sensitivity ratings, so I haven't looked into any of them. Members here helped me confirm I'm an SPL junky, and those UREI's have enabled me to get that "high" I was after without having to have megawatt amplifiers or upgrade my electrical service.. Although I can appreciate the beauty of just one watt or less in the background or as I'm listening. It's just that if I'm actively listening, I tend to want to crank it to eleven at some point.

The UREI's do dominate the room, but we feel they fit and fill the corners in a way that is uniquely us. "Why so big?" is what I heard from Angela's mother the other day.. The answer to that is easy though, these things have set the standard for which others will be judged. Funny how I never truly appreciated percussion and bass guitar like I do now, thanks to these things. Kind of convinced I'll only get that from a system of this magnitude, so now my vintage focus has shifted to amplifiers and preamps.

I almost bought a Volkswoofer! Pretty impressed with M&K subwoofers, they're nice & tight. I've got two MX350THX's that moved to replace JBL E250P's for home theater duties. Revealed just how muddy & boomy those JBL's were.

[hjames]

And as to JBLs - well, there is something special about a good 15 or 18 inch JBL woofer, adds a lot of presence to the music.
And the Infinitys? I decided the black back treatment of the Heathkits underneath were the way to go, so I got some flat black rustoleum latex paint,
and a 2 " paint roller, and redid the backs - much better looking (see the original look 2 posts down), and at very little expense.
I do need to touch up the end of the rear-facing slot for the Estat tweeters - I thought the rear grill covered it a bit more, but it doesn't.
Infinity specs say 35-65 watts to play, but the Carver TFM-125 is doing them well (I'm not gonna play them stupid loud anyway).

[rusty jefferson]

Heather, I've been to your house. How the heck did you even get a pair of Tympani D speakers set up in your living room? Talk about a wall of sound. :-D

[DerekTheGreat]

Those do look much better all black.

I say take the specs and double 'em. You know, I haven't blown a speaker yet... The 128H doesn't count, wasn't even feeding it music. This just inpired me to make a new thread...

[hjames]

Seeing is believing ...
a 6 panel speaker did make it harder to walk around the room ...

Heather, I've been to your house. How the heck did you even get a pair of Tympani D speakers set up in your living room? Talk about a wall of sound. :-D

Back when my main speakers were the L200s with Smith horns and external slots on top.
And we had a pair of KEFs (104s, I think they were), just to try them out ...
There is a certain joy to hearing how someone designs a speaker system to sound!

[rusty jefferson]

LOL!! Just have to turn sideways to walk between them. Love it.

[hjames]

I managed to sell the big Heath AS-1348 speakers on the 29th, so I moved the Infinities out of the way, and - for a change, pulled the Volkswoofer and the L212s into place for a while ...
My Raspberry pi4 streamer crashed after a software update a while back and I was to busy with other projects to sort it out, I got a WiimPro streamer and added a Topping E30 II
since I heard good things of the combo. Working through stuff via Qobuz, or, sometimes streaming from my MacMini with a ton of lossless files in iTunes/Music.

[Odd]

Always wanted the L212.

Not easy to find in Europe.

Well maybe I have too much already.

[DerekTheGreat]

They do look cool.

What exactly are streamers? Perhaps they're a solution to my problem? I'm looking to get rid of the iPod on my home rig, but can't find anything portable which would allow me to both store my music on it and work with iTunes. Oh yeah, it also has to stream to this Cambridge DAC I bought, but never used. Was just thinking I'd move a computer tower out there with a Toslink output.

[hjames]

They do look cool.

What exactly are streamers? Perhaps they're a solution to my problem? I'm looking to get rid of the iPod on my home rig, but can't find anything portable which would allow me to both store my music on it and work with iTunes. Oh yeah, it also has to stream to this Cambridge DAC I bought, but never used. Was just thinking I'd move a computer tower out there with a Toslink output.

I think of streamers like digital tuners - use them to connect to web radio and subscription services. The Wiim Pro, like other devices, can also see my macmini server upstairs so I can use it to play music from that.
The WiimPro works with an App I installed on my iPhone and Emma's iPad - and lets me listen to high resolution services that promise better than CD quality. Not gonna argue that,
but it sounds good and service like Qobuz (or Apple Music, etc) have a large library of music so I don't have to buy everything I want to hear. Kinda nice to preview new music and figure if its worth buying or not!
And I like the display on the Topping DACs - lets me see what the hiRes info is on the feed I'm playing ... The data also shows on the App ...